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Friday, June 29, 2012

Fights, flights and feisty females invade this week's comics! What did I get myself into this week? Read on to find out!

Oh how the mighty have fallen.Wolverine and the X-Men #12 sees Rachel Summers on a mission from the Phoenix Five to capture Hope. Unfortunately, she runs into Wolverine and...the Avengers? What happens next is messy, loud, and ultimately...pointless.

This is just ugly, and I'm not talking about Chris Bachalo's art here. Avengers vs. X-Men has turned the characters involved into lifeless automatons just being strung along by the plot, and it has never been more apparent than this ish. Friends attacking friends? Teachers attacking students? No one is coming out pretty here, with both sides being portrayed as petty and arrogant.

Jason Aaron writes this story with the same excitement and care he gave this series before AvX, but there's only so much he can do within the confines of this event. Chris Bachalo picks up the slack through his amazing, dynamic art, but it's not enough to save this book. What results is a comic that's so loud yet so hollow.

Call me old-fashioned, but this just isn't superhero comics anymore. Aaron, Bachalo, and co. can do better than this. As much as it pains me, I'll be skipping the AvX-tied issues until this all blows over. This gets a 2 out of 5.

The saving grace of this week is Brian Clevinger's Atomic Robo: The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific #1. The title may be long, but it isn't short of action, as we go back in time to see Robo get tangled up with Japanese flying deathbots and jetpack-wearing dames of action!

I've always liked Atomic Robo's offerings during Free Comic Book Day, but this is the first time I'm actually reading a full adventure. Good thing it doesn't disappoint. Clevinger's Robo is witty and funny, even if it feels like he's playing second fiddle to the Flying She-Devils being introduced in this story. The only thing I could find fault in this is that it's pretty exposition-heavy (the Flying She-Devils have a pretty long history) and it feels like Clevinger and co. could have trimmed this five-book series to four.

What really pushed this over the top was Scott Wegener's art. Clevinger's action-packed intro was made even better with Wegener 's pencils making you feel every jetpack whoosh and the boom of explosions in every page!

Atomic Robo: The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific #1 is good comics done right. Simple yet fun, and great-looking to boot. This gets a 4 out of 5.

Disappointing week saved by Atomic Robo! I knew that big robot would come to the rescue one day! What did you think of this week's comics? Drop a comment below and let's talk about it! Thanks for reading!

Be the grains of sand, and nothing but time will take you. The rocks must become it, the waves and wind must bear it and those who would hold it find it slips through their grasp. Always some trace in a faraway nook, if never the whole is seen again.